The Ending Of The Menu Explained

Warning: This article contains spoilers for "The Menu."

Although Halloween might be long gone as we head into the holiday season, director Mark Mylod delivers some strong horror thrills that audiences can easily dine on with "The Menu." The film takes viewers into Hawthorne, a secluded island restaurant run by the renowned and hard-nosed Chef Julian Slowik (Ralph Fiennes) that specifically caters to the wealthiest clientele out there. This particular night at Hawthorne sees Chef Slowik and his loyal staff serve some incredibly wealthy clients as well as some snobby foodies, but Chef Slowik has a sinister twist up his sleeve: Unbeknownst to the guests, Chef Slowik has planned out a secretive menu for his guests that could be fatal if they're unable to turn the tables on him and his staff.

"The Menu" provides some great horror elegance and biting dark comedy with its very avant-garde atmosphere as well as some satirical jabs at high-class eating. As each course is served, the stakes raise immensely, and you are constantly left drifting closer to the edge of your seat. But, with all the wild aspects of Chef Slowik's menu coming to fruition and a sudden turn of fate for one of the guests, Margot (Anya Taylor-Joy), there are a lot of thematic story bits and sudden twists that could've slipped by. Well, have no fear, cause we're here to delve right into everything that was going on through the final few courses of "The Menu."

Pretty early on, Tyler (Nicholas Hoult) explains that there's an overarching theme to Chef Slowik's meal that'll become clearer as the night goes on. So, what was that theme? Well, we know that Chef Slowik's motivations behind the menu are to punish the guests as they either played a physical or emotional role in his loss of love for food. And with him constantly telling stories about how he came to be this cold chef and how that's impacted his staff, it's safe to say that the overarching theme of the menu is Chef Slowik himself. 

With each story behind the courses peeling back the layers of Chef Slowik, as well as his current style of culinary artistry, it starts to become clear that the general theme behind the courses is Chef Slowik's personal journey in losing himself over the years. We even get to see how Chef Slowik's rise to prominence has affected and impacted his staff in devastating ways, either making them realize that they'll never be as good as him or even facing his sexual advances. By the end, Chef Slowik even touches on the innocence he's lost with the final course, and his menu dishes out some cold reminders of how this avant-garde view of food has destroyed its essence for him.

Throughout the film, there's this silver door in a restaurant that catches the eyes and attention of Margot and adds another mystery to the whole ordeal. Once Margot is able to go into Chef Slowik's house while running an errand for him — and taking down his tough maître d' Elsa (Hong Chau) — she's able to see what's behind the same kind of door in his house. What she finds could be easily considered Chef Slowik's planning/motivation room since there are newspaper clippings on the walls of some of the reviews from Lillian (Janet McTeer) and photos that embody his rise to prominence. 

However, Margot makes a more important discovery that gives her some inspiration for her survival. On a small table, she sees a photo of Chef Slowik working as a chef at a likely local burger joint smiling and looking like he truly has a passion for cooking. It might look unimportant to most, but Margot sees it as a symbol of Chef Slowik's love for food and a reminder of Chef Slowik's simpler life before becoming a world-famous culinary auteur. It's a moment that gives inspiration to Margot on how to finally get through to Chef Slowik and gives her the opportunity to survival. 

Margot's discovery of Chef Slowik's past as a burger chef is a major turning point in the film and heavily inspires her to order a cheeseburger in order to possibly save herself. Her request is granted, and Chef Slowik makes one hell of a plate of cheeseburger and fries that makes you want to rip it off the screen and eat it yourself. But is there something more to this cheeseburger than just being a cheeseburger? Well, kind of. 

Not only does this cheeseburger connect to a former part of Chef Slowik's life as a chef who genuinely loved to cook food, but it symbolizes a part of cooking that's lost on most of the people in the room, including Chef Slowik. It represents that kind of easy cooking that's timeless and never needs to be anything flashy or fancy to be good or really establish a connection with people. It's innocent and has real flavor to it, not because of special spices but because the love and touch of the person cooking it feels present with every bite. We're not even talking about a fancy-style cheeseburger and fries or anything, just a nice simple burger sitting on top of a paper plate that easily puts a smile on your face. It certainly puts a smile on Chef Slowik's face and reignites this radiating love of food that had been gone for so long. 

Once Margot is allowed to leave, you're kind of left wondering if Chef Slowik is about to have a change of heart and maybe end the bloodshed that's consumed the night. After all, Chef Slowik was just reminded of his love of food and cooked a meal that brings some genuine warmth to the character for the first time in the film. However, once Margot leaves, he basically reverts back to his old form as the final course is ready to be served. So, why doesn't Margot's cheeseburger request change anything for Chef Slowik?

Chef Slowik doesn't have a real change of heart. He's still so committed to this menu, and just because Margot showed that she isn't like the others in the room, doesn't mean that it changes anything for anyone else in the room, including Chef Slowik. He always felt that Margot was different and once she's out of the line of fire, there's nothing stopping him from completing his masterpiece. Frankly, even the other guests kind of accept their fate as no one tries to stop Chef Slowik in the final moments, and Anne (Judith Light) even waves Margot to leave. 

After all the bloodshed and horrors throughout the night, you're left wondering what Chef Slowik has up his sleeves for the final course that's likely going to be the last meal anyone here has. Like any classic auteur chef, he can't just do something simple and goes for an avant-garde take on s'mores. Why s'mores though? Well, he talks about how s'mores are the staple of any innocent childhood, curling up around the fire with family and friends roasting marshmallows. 

So, this final course is likely meant to represent the innocence that was lost by Chef Slowik, himself, and instead of roasting marshmallows, the plan is to roast everyone inside Hawthorne. It's a visually stunning secret with the trio of ingredients for s'mores having an avant-garde look and everything and everyone going up in flames is a horrifying sight to behold, especially with all the guests covered in marshmallows. It's a fiery final course with some solid symbolism and horrifying conclusions.  

As of the time of this writing, there is no announced sequel for "The Menu" in development, but, as always, it's worth questioning if there can be one. Unless, there's a plan to turn "The Menu" into some kind of anthology series that maybe could show a new set of guests dealing with a new chef looking to make a horror-filled menu, it's pretty safe to say there will be no follow-up film since things kind of end pretty definitively here. 

Hawthorne is burned to the ground; Margot is the sole survivor getting to escape on the boat and enjoy her cheeseburger in peace; and Chef Slowik's legacy ends up being destroyed by his own masterpiece, with no real successor mentioned or hinted at. With everything that happens, the story of "The Menu" is closed and shut to present a one-off horror story full of decadent food, sharp comedy, and disturbing moments.